Using the forum as a teachers aid?
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Hello there, fellow Skuppers.
I've finally got my short course teaching SU for TAFE going. (Csaba, Dave and I were talking about it here last year.)
Very exciting, as far as I know it's the only one in Australia. I have 4 x 3hr classes to get the basics down, should be enough, I hope.
Of course I will be pointing the class towards all the useful SU related stuff on the web including of course this fab forum.
Which brings me to my question. Rather than the possibility of being deluged by student emails asking for help between sessions and after the course finishes, would it be reasonable to get them to post here in the newbie forum to give them the advantage of: A, the wealth of knowledge here, and B, the blinding speed at which replies are often posted.
I hope you don't think I'm being lazy here, but I'm busy enough as it is and I'm offline quite often with sailing.
If you guys think the above is reasonable, I'm wondering the best way to go about it: I would want to keep track of them and possibly develop a sort of sub-community amongst the students.
So, the best way I can think of at present would be to start a thread, ('Bazzas Tafe class'?) where we would subscribe. And when I could'nt help, I'm sure someone here would.
Thoughts anyone?
Baz -
Hi Baz,
Anything is possible. I could even make a usergroup for your students and you could keep track of them that way (you can be a "group leader", even send board PM's to them etc.). I could even make a whole subforum (although I would wait with that until we can see how "popular" the project is) and if so, you could even be the moderator for that subforum. And of course, they are always welcome as members - I only would not like to see them asking other members here to do their school assignments for them out of laziness!
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hi csaba, a usergroup sounds great, tho i'm not sure exactly how that works, is it like the woodworkers section that one subscribes to, or is that a subforum? and is the 'usergroup' open to anyone who wishes to view it?
either way, it sounds just the thing, can you help me set it up?
btw, the last couple of days while getting my class notes together, i've discovered a few gaps in my su knowledge, which reminds me of a saying: 'you teach what you need to learn'.
thanks, baz.
ps: re student laziness, these people are adults and they are paying to learn this stuff so that should'nt be a problem. -
@baz said:
hi csaba, a usergroup sounds great, tho i'm not sure exactly how that works, is it like the woodworkers section that one subscribes to, or is that a subforum? and is the 'usergroup' open to anyone who wishes to view it?
It's up to howI set it up.It can be a hidden UG (we have some beta testing UG's around), it can be an "invite only" (this would be best for yours) or it can be open (like the woodworking UG).
@unknownuser said:
ps: re student laziness, these people are adults and they are paying to learn this stuff so that should'nt be a problem.
OK, that's a different story then - first I thought it's a school project. But then I guess no real need for a subforum as they are adult enough to find their ways to different parts of the forums here. With the UG you can "follow" their activity easily.
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so, open user group then?
or if too hard, what about the 'starting a thread' idea? -
The UG can be made any time. It's a different matter how they become members of the UG (as if it is a non-open group, only admins such as me can add anyone to the UG).
What should the name be? Something like "Baz's students"
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i dont think it should be invite only, that goes against what the forum is about, openness.
im thinking, for example, one of my current class participants posts a question. i answer it, then someone else jumps in with a different way. etc etc. good learning.
however, you could call it 'chisholm tafe sketchup short course 2010'
oh bugger, now i'm confused. should it be invite only so my guys dont get misled by misanthropes? how does invite only work, apply to you? that would be good.is it a lot of work to set one up so that i could see how it operates?
baz. -
Well, if it is not an invite only UG, anyone can sign up, right? Then what's the use?
The name you are suggesting is too long. should be something shorter (in case it's the default UG so that it should fit in one line under the avatar image like "registered user" or "global moderator") -
Why not just tell them to come use the forum for questions. Is there really a need to differentiate them from any other beginner who comes and visits?
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The students would get much quicker answers if they just used the Newbie forum, not that Im against a separate group being created.
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I also guess a separate forum is definitely not needed. A UG may be handy for the tutor to keep track of the students' activity.
We1ll see how it works out.
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@chris fullmer said:
Why not just tell them to come use the forum for questions. Is there really a need to differentiate them from any other beginner who comes and visits?
Hi chris, dylan the only thing I am trying to achieve is to keep track of my students, I agree that differentation is not necessary or desirable. And i certainly want them to have the advantage of all the members knowledge here.
Csaba has set up a ug for me, I'll see how that goes. I'm still thinking that just starting a thread might be the simplist solution.
baz
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